A late-night drive took a frigid turn Tuesday when a Canandaigua man allegedly fell asleep at the wheel and plunged his vehicle into the Canandaigua Lake outlet off County Road 19 in Shortsville, according to Ontario County sheriff's deputies.

Deputies said Wesley Russell Albrecht, 30, of 170 Camelot Drive, was charged Tuesday with driving while ability impaired following a crash in the town of Hopewell. According to deputies, Albrecht allegedly fell asleep at the wheel of his vehicle, causing it to exit County Road 19 between Taylor and Pioneer roads at about 9:39 p.m. The vehicle eventually came to a rest in the Shortsville outlet, with Albrecht still inside, deputies said.

According to Shortsville Fire Chief Jason Wagner, the victim, still in the water with unknown injuries, was rescued by a neighbor before Shortsville firefighters arrived. He was then treated and transported to Clifton Springs Hospital, where he was later released, Wagner said.

The Ontario County Water Rescue Team, for which Wagner is chief of operations, also responded to the scene to retrieve Albrecht’s vehicle, still in the rushing water with headlights on.

“This is the home of the Wild Water Derby,” Wagner said. “This is where we train — it’s one of our specialties. So since there wasn’t a rescue, we were very careful and methodical in recovering the vehicle from the water. The real focus was on the technical challenge of removing the car in the safest and most efficient way possible.”

It took the Water Rescue Team and a tow operator from Corby's collision about two hours to pull the car, which Wagner described as a “total loss,” out of the water.

“It was quite honestly an unplanned training opportunity for us,” said Wagner. “The current was moving swiftly, the water is high, so it’s moving with some force.”

Wagner credited the tow operator, who "was a partner in every step of the vehicle recovery."

"We worked out our plans together with law enforcement at the command post to be sure everyone was on the same page with how the operation needed to progress," Wagner said. "It was really a textbook example of how unified command is supposed to — and did — function to everyone's benefit and safety."

Wagner said a vehicle takes a plunge into the outlet about once every three years, either in the County Road 19 location or on Route 488 near East Avenue and Route 21.